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Cognitive Biases in Design Cognitive Biases in Design The case of tropical architecture Cognitive Biases in Design The case of tropical architecture Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Technische Universiteit Delft, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. ir. K. F. Wakker, voorzitter van het College voor Promoties, in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag, juni 11th, 2001 om 10:30 uur door Joo-Hwa BAY geboren te Singapore Bachelor of Architecture, National University of Singapore Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door de promotor: Prof. A. Tzonis Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Rector Magnificus, voorzitter Prof. A. Tzonis, Technische Universiteit Delft, promotor Prof. S. J. Doorman, Technische Universiteit Delft Prof. dr. ir. J. Kristinsson, Technische Universiteit Delft Prof. dr. K. P. Lam, National University of Singapore Prof. dr. W. L. Porter, MIT Cambridge, USA Prof. dr. D. Shefer, Technion Haifa, Israel Published by The Design Knowledge System Research Centre, Faculteit Bouwkunde Technische Universiteit Delft Berlageweg 1, 2628 CR Delft The Netherlands, Tel: 31 15 2784208 Webpage: http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/dks Copyright © 2001 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photocopy, microfilm, or any other means without written permission from the author or the publisher. ISBN 90-9014859-0 NUGI 923 Printed in the Netherlands To Sher-Ni and Jo-Han ABSTRACT Summary of dissertation This dissertation investigates, i) How cognitive biases (or illusions) may lead to errors in design thinking, ii) Why architects use architectural precedents as heuristics despite such possible errors, and iii) Develops a design tool that can overcome this type of errors through the introduction of a rebuttal mechanism. The mechanism controls biases and improve s accuracy in architectural thinking. The research method applied is interdisciplinary. It employs knowledge from cognitive science, environmental engineering, and architectural theory. The case study approach is also used. The investigation is made in the case of tropical architecture. The investigation of architectural biases draws from work by A. Tversky and D. Kahneman in 1982 on “Heuristics and biases”. According to Tversky and Kahneman, the use of heuristics of representativeness (based on similarity) and availability (based on ease of recall and imaginability) for judgement of probability can result in cognitive biases of illusions of validity and biases due to imaginability respectively. This theory can be used analogically to understand how errors arise in the judgement of environmental behaviour anticipated from various spatial configurations, leading to designs with dysfunctional performances when built. Incomplete information, limited time, and human mental resources make design thinking in practice difficult and impossible to solve. It is not possible to analyse all possible alternative solutions, multiple contingencies, and multiple conflicting demands, as Cognitive Biases in Design doing so will lead to combinatorial explosion. One of the ways to cope with the difficult design problem is to use precedents as heuristic devices, as shortcuts in design thinking, and at the risk of errors. This is done with analogical, pre-parametric, and qualitative means of thinking, without quantitative calculations. Heuristics can be efficient and reasonably effective, but may not always be good enough or even correct, because they can have associated cognitive biases that lead to errors. Several debiasing strategies are discussed, and one possibility is to introduce a rebuttal mechanism to refocus the designer’s thinking on the negative and opposite outcomes in his judgements, in order to debias these illusions. The research is carried out within the framework of design theory developed by the Design Knowledge System Research Centre, TUDelft. This strategy is tested with an experiment. The results show that the introduction of a rebuttal mechanism can debias and improve design judgements substantially in environmental control. The tool developed has possible applications in design practice and education, and in particular, in the designing of sustainable environments. Keywords: Design bias; Design knowledge; Design rebuttal; Design Precedent; Pre-parametric design; Tropical architecture; Sustainability. viii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study on the problem of design started in 1997 as a new direction of my personal interest in design theories. As a practicing architect for many years, and as a facilitator for learning architectural knowledge in education, I had always pondered on how the creative architect coped with such a demanding practice with so many conflicting requirements and desires. Observing the scene of practice, especially in the tropical region, I was intrigued by the variety of design innovations and creative expressions in architectural works and writings. It varied from traditional derivations to modern interpretations of what architecture should be in the tropical context. At the same time, there were also strange designs that looked like they will work well, but in reality did not perform as expected, for instance in protecting the user from the rain and sun. Four interrelated questions arose. One was how the architect could think and cope with the difficult problem of design in architecture, and the other was how he could get so many ideas, ideologies, innovations, and new creations so quickly in his busy practice. The third was how it was possible for the responsible and sincere architect with sound mind to develop designs that appeared to work, but failed upon closer examinations, and yet the architect continued in his beliefs and went about expounding on his design intentions and ideologies for an appropriate tropical architecture. Equally puzzling was how observers and writers could evaluate such designs, believed that they were successful designs, and wrote well about their performances. The opportunity to examine these curious abilities and quizzical happenings, and how to improve the design thinking skill of the architect came in 1997 as a collaborative research with the Design Knowledge System Research Centre at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands. Cognitive Biases in Design The research was developed with my thesis adviser Professor Alexander Tzonis, who helped me professionally with expert sharpness. I am privileged and grateful to work with such a dedicated person. I would also like to thank Professor S. J. Doorman for his lessons on related philosophical issues and comments on the thesis. I appreciate the discussions and debates with the colleagues at the Design Knowledge Systems Research Centre, past and present, Xiaodong Li, Nan Fang, Karina Zarzar, Sinan Inanc, and Asaf Friedman. My understanding of tropical architecture broadens with discussions with C. K. Lim of Architect Team 3, K. S. Tay and Patrick Chia of Akitek Tenggara, William Lim of William Lim Associates, G. B. Tang of Tangguanbee Architects, and J. F. Cheng of Design Link. Special thanks to Akitek Tenggara, for allowing the use of one of their building projects, and illustrations as materials for a case study. I am thankful to the colleagues in the National University of Singapore, Milton Tan, and B. L. Ong for their kind suggestions and encouragements. I would like to thank Prof. W. L. Porter, Prof. S. J. Doorman, Prof. J. Kristinsson, A. Prof. K. P. Lam, and Prof. D. Shefer for being on my committee. I am indebted to Liane Lefaivre, and Asaf Friedman for reading and commenting on parts of the manuscript, Merel Miedema for Dutch translations, Janneke Arkesteijn for help in administrative matters, Cherie Bay for proof reading, and Luke Goh and Sims Teo for their moral backings. Special thanks goes to the Delft University of Technology for the hospitality to facilitate me in this research, and the National University of Singapore for the kind grant of leave and financial support. To my wife, children, parents and sisters, I wish to thank them for their love, patience and continuous support. My warmest appreciation to my wife, Chay-Hoong Tan, for being there for me, through thick and thin in this adventurous yet tedious journey. Joo-Hwa BAY Delft, 2001 x CONTENTS Abstract vii Preface and acknowledgement ix Contents xi Introduction 1 1. The case of tropical architecture 11 Preliminary case study to understand the pragmatic paradigms, constraints, and problems in design thinking in practice Some general aspects of tropical architecture 12 Some early discussions about tropical architecture 13 Defining tropical architecture 15 Some aspects of environmental control 17 The practice of tropical architecture in Singapore 22 Cognitive Biases in Design Traditional examples 22 Modern examples 23 Recent tropical design paradigms 31 Analysing some aspects of practice, overconfidence in 44 thinking, and errors 49 2. Design precedents in tropical architecture Design thinking with the use of precedents as heuristics with analogical, pre-parametric and qualitative means, and problems of biases in tropical architecture The use of precedents to overcome difficulties in design 50 Design problems cannot be solved by analytical approach 52 alone Precedents are necessary for solving design problems 54 in practice Precedents as analogical means of thinking 56 Precedents as pre-parametric and qualitative means of 57 thinking Precedents and design guidelines for environmental 60 control Limitations of typologies for environmental control
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